Guild Wars 2

Totally agree. The balloons were especially frustrating because you wouldn’t know you’d done it until you were halfway up to the top and the chest decided to finally open to let you know your work was futile. Luckily I’m rarely an early adopter for events due to rl obligations, so I knew to make a clean w→e sweep of all the maps to save myself the headache of keeping track out of game. This event, though, I don’t have that kind of control over. …reminds me: I should start an Evernote Invasion list. Thanks, OP

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

Fluffy Ferocious.9807:

As soon as men are generalized into a sex obsessed group, the movement risks losing 50% of its would-be supporters.

Not to mention it’s also sexist.

… I’m not sure anyone has made that generalization here, though? Or at least, 90% of commenters haven’t and it wasn’t the point of the OP. What are you responding to? Pointing out that a design innately appeals to the sensuality of hetero males isn’t an accusation of ~all men~ being ~sex obsessed~. It’d be more like a privilege check, or a check on the internalization of paternal culture, in regards to this specific watchknight design (though the thread has occasionally tangented to include other design choices, like the grossly huge Norn bodies and the wide difference between them and their human counterparts, vs the smaller difference between female Norn bodies and human females, differences between female & male armor of the same name, etc).

To address recent posts to the thread, this is why the complaints wouldn’t be different if it turns out a woman did decide to add heels and nipple bolts. We all process and internalize the culture we’re in; it’s no different for women. An action/design/text is not automagically “okay” or free from critique in feminist criticism just because the author was a woman. There’s still a larger context at work.

Fluffy Ferocious.9807:

The problem feminism faces isn’t men. It’s jerks, ignorance, and at times, it’s own lazy speech. I’d fight them in that order.

I… feel like your whole post is trying to re-explain feminism in a thread full of people already in-depth applying/rebutting feminist terms/theory to watchknights (at least in the first six or so pages, heh). That’s probably why you got such a snarky response. It’s like coming into a physics classroom and explaining multiplication at the end of the session. No one has said that the problem is men. You brought someone’s direct, specific reply out into a generalized straw man (as relating to this thread, anyways) critique of feminism. They are all valid points, aside from my quibble with your “society” definition, but I’m not sure they needed to be made. We all know what society is, we’re a bit beyond that semantic point in the discussion, but you felt like you had to re-explain to us. Aforementioned quibble: Society does treat people in certain ways, because “society” is a pattern of relationships and, at least in academia, is characterized by the overall sum of those relationships. In ethnographies, we write, “Suchandsuch society acts this way toward this subgroup.” Obviously society is not a person. It is a generalization. We all, I assume, understand how personification operates in the English language. Earlier, some were careful to say “Western Culture/society” but I’ve dropped that because it seems pretty self-evident.

To address your first point, since I started up there with your second: Who are you responding to? No one in this thread is saying the design is going to offend all women. They are trying to critique it from a feminist theory perspective. These are not the same things (as you said: “some of those experiences would not offend every woman. Nor does it have to for feminism to be relevant.”). What offends someone and what harms someone/society are not necessarily the same thing.

I think the rub was that your points seemed to be 1) defining obvious terms (society, objectivity) in a thread that’s had relatively decent in-depth discussions on “objectification”, “sexual” vs “sexualization”, and “idealization” just off the top of my head, 2) stating the obvious problem with two supposedly common arguments that I have not seen being made/not responding to a specific argument for or against the watchknights, and to top it all off 3) claiming that our supposed ignorance of the first two points is what is alienating all men (“50% of [feminism’s] would-be supporters”) from supporting feminism. Which is all a response to feminism at large, anyways, and not pros/cons of the design of the watchknights or feminist analysis of such. So, not to say that your points are not vaguely valid in some hypothetical situation or well said, just that they aren’t super on point for this 11 page long thread about a specific issue.

Bovinity.8610:

1. Just because a woman thinks something isn’t sexist, doesn’t mean it isn’t sexist. If your wife/gf/friend/mom/whoever says, “I don’t have a problem with high heels on a robot,” that doesn’t make it A-OK anymore than a woman saying it isn’t OK makes it automatically not OK. This argument comes up a lot in feminist-related things, and it’s really not an argument. It’s just opinion: a girl thinks it’s ok. Maybe even an unofficial poll of all the girls you know says it’s ok. That’s great, but so what.

2. Just because something’s done a lot already doesn’t make it OK either. People keep saying, All MMOs have stuff like this. Greek art has stuff like this. Etc. Well it’s not like the people who are against it don’t know that. It still doesn’t make it OK and it still isn’t an argument, it’s just a situation.

The opposite is true too, though. Just because a woman (or a man deciding he needs to defend women) is offended, it doesn’t make it “sexism”.

Sadly, that seems to be the criteria nowadays. If a woman is displeased by something I say or do – for any reason – then it’s “sexism” because she says so.

Take a breath and re-read Sitkaz’ post, specifically sentence two.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

kimeekat.2548:

But, you’re right: David is beautiful! Let’s get some David-looking partial-nudes up in the watchknights or the next mechanical mob, with some testicle-bolts Then this design would be closer to equal (though his kitten is still mighty modest compared to this design’s breast size).

Just so I understand what you’re saying. Are you saying that because the Watchknight has implied areola and nakedness, that to be equal a male robot would have to have it’s genitals exposed?

Male toplessness is not sexualized the way female toplessness generally is in western culture, so it would have to be something like testicular bolts with a generic codpiece, imo. I think this would keep the modesty of the main organ in both designs while gonad/mammary is emphasized/“exposed”. How would you do it? I’ve seen more radical propositions on here, haha, so I’m sure you have an opinion.

Talissa Chan.7208:

8 pages. 8! all because someone couldn’t see the beauty of making something in an ideal image. Take david, was the statue a fat balding middleaged guy with gout? no, it was the ideal form of a male in his prime. If you look at david and think “pfft, unrealistic i don’t look like that” then you’re missing the point. If i had the ability to sculpt or create an awesome figure in metal i’d kitten well make a woman i could fall in love with. If you look at that same woman and go “my boobs are’nt that pert, my butts not that perfect…unrealistic..pffft” then its YOUR self worth issue destroying a masterpiece. To then come online and try and have it abused, degraded and removed from the game? just sad. Get off the computer chair, go exercise and read a book on art. Grow up a little.

Ignorant personal attacks about our bodies and minds aside, go check the first three pages. There are plenty of critiques that began with how beautiful the watchknights are. But, you’re right: David is beautiful! Let’s get some David-looking partial-nudes up in the watchknights or the next mechanical mob, with some testicle-bolts Then this design would be closer to equal (though his kitten is still mighty modest compared to this design’s breast size). Though, you know, we’d still have the problem of limited body type representation in games (not what I’m focusing on, but also important). Not sure equal sexualization is the cultural answer, but at least we sink or swim together at that point.

So a design for a protector is all about who you could see yourself falling in love with? Could you not “fall in love” with a body that looks differently than this? I can’t imagine why we’d think the female body is being reduced or objectified in this discussion with phrasing like that (sarcasm). What does love or sex have to do with a bamfy robot guard? I also don’t think a “middle-aged man with gout” could take down Goliath, as I doubt a robot would operate very well in heels with all its most vulnerable gears exposed.

Crazylegsmurphy.6430:

kimeekat.2548:

GW2 is, imo, by no means a regular offender on this topic, and has really well-written female characters over all, which is probably why this thread is so striking.

Actually, for me the reason that this thread is so striking is because suddenly this is an issue. No one seemed to care about the other examples in this game with males and females, but for some reason, suddenly this is an issue.

Show me a female form in GW2 walking around with nipples (excuse me- ~areolas~) out wearing only high heels, without a male equivalent, and I’m sure we’ll both see the ensuing fuss. Although as fusses go, this seems pretty tame o.o

Brutalistik.6473:

I can’t believe this topic is still going on and growing strong at that seeing different views. I mean literally this is not an issue at all because models like this regardless of what game platform isn’t new at all to the system with female anatomy being portrayed like that.

I think some people just need to accept the fact no matter how uncomfortable you are about the image. It will always be there no matter where you go in reality or playing video games…

I think ’that’s the way it is/has been, so we shouldn’t have a discussion about its merits or drawbacks; just accept things how they are and don’t aim for change or self-analysis’ is a disappointing attitude in approaching anything. shrug You don’t have to participate if it’s a topic or point of view that does not interest you. Thanks for reminding us all that this is a systemic issue in many facets of our society, though. We know; we’re trying to do something about through analysis and inclusive discussion GW2 is, imo, by no means a regular offender on this topic, and has really well-written female characters over all, which is probably why this thread is so striking.

DarksunG.9537:

kimeekat.2548:

However, I’d argue that what you’ve described is not objectification, it’s idealization, an argument that is presented in a more fun way here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7290-Objectification-And-Men

This guys criticism is absolute bullox. If you want a look at objectification based on facts & a bit of research & not pop-culture-critic style commentary, watch some http://www.youtube.com/user/girlwriteswhat

I have a Masters degree in English in which my emphases were feminist theory, play/game theory and science fiction, and as an undergrad I minored in anthropology. I assure you, I’m aware of actual academic arguments on the subject. I’d like to hear your opinion why his criticisms are “bullox” and what facts you feel are relevant.

DarksunG.9537:

bhagwad.4281:

I’ll agree when Anet brings out nude models of men with pricks. But I’m guessing they won’t do that. Hmm….I wonder why.

Try apples & apples: When it comes to depicting men as confident, tough, successful, mysterious & strong, that objectification is rampant. Doesn’t make it instantly evil.

So, this is cool because it speaks to recent academic arguments about objectification. Namely, that things can/should be objectified without it being inherently problematic. This is one of my favorite links on the subject because it presents different back and forths between scholars: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-objectification/.

However, I’d argue that what you’ve described is not objectification, it’s idealization, an argument that is presented in a more fun way here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7290-Objectification-And-Men

gwawer.9805:

high heels = taller = better aerial view of city = better vigilance …WATCHknights

…could they not have just been four whole inches taller? If this was really the point, why not give them receptors with sub-knights to go out into the world and monitor the city, and send feedback to the main unit? There’s lots of canon ways to explain the design away, but 1) these have never been stated by devs/in-game and are (imo: poorly) constructed fanon so far, 2) we are not talking about the in-game logic of their design. I believe the thread was made as a way to point out the real-life social/cultural/psychological implications of the image in context of the rest of the game/industry/society. That context being that the nudity is striking; every other female form in GW2 gets the dignity of at least underwear/clothes (statues of the gods) or being androgynized (golems). Topless men, in the context of western culture, are not highly sexualized, except perhaps on the cover of romance novels where they (along with their covered female protagonist) strike a pose with long hair and are waved away as effeminate (think Fabio). Men can walk around and work out without their shirts on and no one harasses them. Women without tops are exposing a body part that has been sexualized by western culture over the years, for better or worse. So in the context of our culture, yes, showing a woman’s breasts is different than showing a man’s pectorals. Should it be? I don’t know/care, but give me some topless male robots or, more on par imo, some attention drawn to the scrotum/codpiece, and I’ll summon the energy for that larger cultural debate, haha.

I’m not opposed to watchknights/robots having idealized body images of women (though there are studies about why that is harmful, I’m used to it and am trying to make a more timely/specific critique), I’m opposed to them having ornamentation that draws unnecessary attention to what would be erogenous zones (in this case the breasts, and to a lesser degree, the bum), ornamentation that presents them as butt-thrustingly naked women in high heels. All that, plus them being strung up around the city as ornamentation is an unsettling mix of violence/lack of agency/sexualization for me, not saying it is for everyone. Just asking the devs to think about that. And to address a weird tangent that I saw earlier upthread, I think the distinction between nipples and areolas in this case is beside the point shrug

Some good points on all sides, though Which reinforces my belief that GW2 really attempts to foster a friendly/positive atmosphere.

Oh, there are definitely ways to make this bizarre choice part of the plot (which, let’s be clear, is not currently the canon case). To counter the “she wanted them to look like that” head!canons, I’d love to see an in-game scene of Jennah flipping a royal kitten fit at the in-game designer and him/her refusing to redo the order, so Jennah has to deal with not getting her way at her own jubilee. Would also be fun to see different in-game NPCs try to butter her up to get the future design/redesign bids. XD Character development and a meta self-critique while leaving the door open for small design changes in the future = win-win. Of course they’ve already got the voice-overs for this story so I doubt this would happen. But still, if we’re listing theoretical explanations… I like mine, haha. I just find it hard to believe she’d specify for nipples without asking that the vulnerable exposed cogs be protected somehow.

Christos de Soufre.3802:

…I just thought they were robots. Because that’s what they are.

I think it’s offensive to even care what the “gender” of the robot is. Kind of like how racism and other forms of prejudice are getting to the point where the only exist because people talk about them. It seems more like an arbitrary choice to me, if anything. It’s a robot.

They have breasts. The devs gave them the appearance of a specific gender, not the audience. As I said upthread, this would be a different ballgame if the robots were aesthetically sexless/androgynous.

…and racism exists in institutionalized forms no matter if people talk about it or not. But I won’t head down that road, because I have horrible premonitions of the quality of that discussion.

Slayer Lord.5023:

What a double standard put on the female image. What about guys like Superman? Tall, dark, in perfect shape and fearlessly brave. How does that effect my male body image? No, I’m told I have to be that guy.

Yet somehow when the same thing is applied to the female form, this is up for mature debate. It’s just not logical.

Hi, there I think there is a Jimquisition (from Escapist) video you might like to watch that addresses this topic: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7290-Objectification-And-Men
Superman is never a goal for a female character to obtain (I’ve never played as Lois, running around doing reportery things that save Superman’s life, though there are a few well-written comics that attempt such trope-subversion). That’s the difference. You can literally own a mini watchknight. It is an objective in the game.

There are definitely male body issues that abound in fantasy settings, but usually they stem from what the male creators want from a man and not what women want (slighty off topic, and ohgodI’msorryforbringinginTwilight but I think that’s why Edward Cullen got such a rabid fangirl base. It was a guy semi-sexualized/idealized for the pleasures of a woman).

BrandonBandicoot.3968:

They’re cold and metallic sword wielding, shape shifting abominations that just happen to look like women when in their normal forms because they were DESIGNED by a woman.

Actually, they were designed by the devs. Who are, I assume, male or exist in a largely male atmosphere, though I admit I’m basing that on the statistics from elsewhere in the industry. So: Watchknights were made by an NPC woman who was made by men. So no, they were not designed by a woman in any sense. Even in-character, we have no idea to what extent she controlled the design. The lack of this being addressed in the game shows that it was unintentional on the devs’ parts. Please stop trying to make this into an empowering “Jennah did it to empower women!” thing because that’s nowhere near canon at this point.

BrandonBandicoot.3968:

If the mechapricks on the robots were done artistically like the Statue of David and went well with the style of Divinity’s Reach, then why not? The Watchknights are doing that fine with their roboboobs.

I’m going to assume from the context that the poster’s question wasn’t for you. I assume it was for rhetorical/for the devs. Why did they go with the trope of “robot with prominent breasts” instead of “robot with prominent kitten”? It’s to illustrate the difference with which we treat the female body as default oggle fodder and how this unthinkingly seems to perpetuate that. It’s seriously awesome that you’d support the male equivalent, though since my assumption is that there’d be a lot of homophobic comments about it in-game

Edit: And no one is trying to insult the art team! The watchknights are beautiful and complex in design, as many here have said previously in the thread. There are just a few elements of the design that sway this into ‘randomly objectified’ territory, so they stand out. /unintentional nipple joke

Shiren.9532:

… I suspect they are just consequences of a designer’s inspiration. Of all the possible sources of inspiration, I doubt it was ever intended to be disrespectful to women or suggestive of submissive women. I too wonder why they made the robots that way, but I don’t think it’s an issue.

“Consequences of a designer’s inspiration” In a field largely dominated by guys, I’m not surprised that this portrayal is the unthinking default. As someone who plays video games and reads comics, unthinking sexualization really is nothing new to me. I don’t think anyone would argue with what you’re saying. Whereas you can dismiss it as not being an issue because it was unintentional, imagine for a second that this is the background radiation of your life. The critiques being made in this thread are not diminished by intentionality (though I imagine they’d be more hurt and angry in tone if it became clear that it was intentionally done for the eye candy!). It’s a major thread in academic analysis that the author’s intended meaning is only part of the story: that imagery, history or cultural context that the author is unaware of can influence an audience’s reading.

I think I’m not far off base if I say that most here are just trying to make the devs aware of what messages they’re sending/culture they’re reinforcing, perhaps unintentionally, in certain choices. I suppose I will make it a personal critique of the overall devs involved, though, and say that being unaware of how using the skin of a naked woman in heels in the watchknights comes off seems mighty tone-deaf.

And for those of you saying that because they are “strong” that makes them not sexualized, I’m going to refer you to a series of comics that will hopefully help you come to terms with the flaws in your slippery-slope arguments: http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=311 and http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=336

I was initially torn. I think the level of detail is beautiful (so beautiful). But do the watchknights really need nipples? Really? Once I realized that, I realized the watchknights present not just a typical skin-tight-I-can-fight-in-heels fantasy female body, but a naked female body to gawk at. Not even an attempt to hide the objectification. Do they really need heels? I wish they would have been androgynous, or that the lace/engraving effect was more emblematic of clothing. Do the breasts and butt really need the extra attention drawn through the lace design? Was someone like “You know, that engraving on the genitalia isn’t eye-catching enough… let’s give the robots nipples, too”?

And if you think a single topless male NPC (Braham) is equivalent to a whole type of NPC that makes up an army that we see over and over again in the span of seconds in the case of the Jubilee events, supposedly commissioned by a strong female ruler, I… I don’t even know what to tell you other than to ask you to sit and think about it for a while. And yes, EDI from Mass Effect 3 was way less sexualized in design than this. The details of her breasts, for glaring example, were kept inside of her “suit”.

Some sort of equivalence that could ~make things even~ is to get some male watchknights up in there with their testes made into the bellybutton/nipple “bolts” and some embroidered codpieces.

Zaxares.5419:

“BY OGDEN’S HAMMER, WHAT SAVINGS!”

For some reason, I never get tired of hearing him say that. XD

Hahaa, yes. Galaxy Quest references never get old. Came here to say that one, as well.

Woo, nice suggestion, I totally agree. Would also have been nice for that darkness effect to be what we got paired with the Radiant Skins (light effect and dark effect makes more sense to me than light effect and yet another skin with flames), but I digress.

Also: Laughing at all the people who fail at reading the OP.

DeShadowWolf.6854:

Zylonite.5913:

same here. This new content looks so beautiful that I am so sad it is going away soon.

Join the petition here

That permalink is down for me :\

I (constructively, I hope) criticize a lot because I love the kitten out of this game. But I’m here to say I agree with the OP. This update is stunningly beautiful and fun, with manageable achievements/rewards, and I’m enjoying Sanctum Sprint way more than I thought I would (even with a TON of rubberbanding going on). I just love this area and the exploration-based skills. Please bring it back in some equally awesome incarnation :) BotFW update is just a home run imo <3

What a great idea! I also vote for in-game calendar (sick of having to hunt for LS info outside of the game… like how to take down Mai). I have a family to help take care of, a full time job, friends to spend time with… I need end dates so I can plan my limited GW2 time. I love the living story but they are SO SHORT (yet so full of stuff I need to do). God help me if I have plans two weekends in a row because then I miss out on tons of content forever (ugh).

This update is so beautiful ;.; I need to know how to make the most of my time with it. Hopefully this stuff lasts more than two weeks because I genuinely can’t handle this pace. Which is good! Congrats to the devs on their hard work. But also terrible because I’m a completionist and longtime GW fangirl who must Do All The Things and I feel like I’m being punished/rushed for having real life obligations.

Yeah, I actually really liked the dungeon even though I only played it once, died a ton of times (4 medium armors, 1 light), and we didn’t make it halfway through the last fight. But I can see how, now that I’ve read how to beat Mai, it would be easier (mind hinting at mechanics in-game? That would be really nice). Make that kind of tough ‘ish permanent, please. I have no problem playing it repeatedly for achievements, but I just do not have that kind of time (+dailies, +weekly guild events, +reality). I’m terrible at jumping puzzles (lots of lag lately, my main is a Norn, no checkpoints on Not So Secret areyoukiddingme), so I’ve been less and less excited for the cache system that seems to get its jollies off JPs being the main feature of Living Story stuff.

Unfortunately, I have a family and a full time job so I’ve come to find I don’t count when it comes to Living Story completion. 2 weeks… ridiculous.

Yeah, I agree that there needs to be some sort of long-term wardrobe/skinning option, especially as most of the incentives to play the game at this point revolve around ~new/limited time weapon/armor skin~. There’s a ridiculously good Reddit thread going on about this right now, that I really would like to encourage ANet to look at (if they’re not already): http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1hialb/we_still_need_a_wardrobe_system/
One thing I think devs would appreciate is how much the thread is floating around ways of incorporating transmutation crystals etc in so ANet still gets their precious gem store money ;)

Danikat.8537:

I didn’t say those attitudes make sense, only that it seems to be most players motivation based on what they complain about on the forum and suggest as improvements.

You suggested the OPs idea wouldn’t make “everyone” happy for those reasons. I suggest that I haven’t seen anyone claim they wanted a skin only because a ticket gives them a sense of achievement or they desire super rarity. I have, however, seen people praise them for their design.

My insinuation was that the skins are visually appealing, which is driving desire for them, and this would drive people to be willing to spend real money on them. I suppose I haven’t seen a good reason as to why we should pander to people who want rarity (maybe add more legendaries or tiers, if they want that kind of content) over people who want design. My inclination is to believe that the pool of people who like the design of the skin is larger than those in it for the rarity, and that Anet would therefore make more money by somehow charging flat out for each skin. shrug

Danikat.8537:

The problem is this wouldn’t really make everyone happy.

A lot of people who want the wings, or the mini or the free hat or whatever it is they want only want it because it’s rare and “special” and other people might one day be impressed that they’ve got it.

Other people want it because it’s a sign that they’ve achieved something – what they really want is the sense that they’ve earned it and what it is they’re earned is largely irrelevant.

If everyone could get it quickly and easily through whatever means they prefer then that incentive is gone. It ceases to be a reward and in the minds of most players there is no longer any reason to have it.

Don’t believe me? When was the last time you saw anyone say anything about the Polla doll other than to ask what the point is?

Well, I guess I don’t have much of an opinion about the economic specifics of the OP’s plan. But:

1) Uh no. Some people think the skins are beautiful in and of themselves. I couldn’t care less about what anyone else has. It will be cool as a signifier of player age/loyalty to the game in the future, granted. But that’s true of anything that’s out or will ever be out. Brahm’s shield, for example, was super pretty and gem-buyable and won’t be back again, in theory. I didn’t buy it because it was rare and thus “special”, I bought it because I liked the design.

2) Achieved… what? Farming for hours and hours and hours? In the supposed grindless mmo? And even then, it’s not like you earned it through skill or seniority. “Earning” here is an illusion. You were lucky through rng. Would the people who buy 1000 coffers from the TP really be considered to have “earned” their skins?

3) the polla doll is only cool if you have a character under like level 20, basically, so I understand the nature of people’s expressed opinions (though I like it, because I have a low lvl alt).

The chance from a gem-bought rich box needs to be way higher. The stuff inside is worthless, besides the mini (and even then: who needs 7 of the same minis?) or ticket. There’s not enough to spend the taffy on (don’t get me started on the insane cost of the holo wings from the event vendor without any confirmation that the taffy system will be in-game next Dragon Bash), and after the achievement the taffy is essentially worthless. I guess I don’t understand why there’s an insanely low drop rate on items that can’t even be traded/affect the economy. And those that spent some actual money don’t even get a pity ticket after so many rich coffers, or even a decent ticket drop rate increase from them. I’d like some communication about how much of this content will be in the game for the next dragon bash, so I know if it’s mentally better for me to give up now. In either case, I’m never spending another dollar on ~increased RNG-based-ticket-for-weapon chance~ crap again. I’ll buy other things that aren’t kittenting all over my patronage.

Basically, after the last three events, I’m getting bummed out on temporary content that isn’t earned but is bestowed and then soul/account bound whether or not a player would like to give it to someone who actually wants it. I’m cool with randomness, but at least tell me that the gold and energy I spent on upping my magic find is affecting drop rate, tell me that if my boyfriend doesn’t want the ticket he can give it to me (instead of being afraid to tell me he found one because of how heartbroken he thought I’d be), tell me that I’ll have another chance again next year (seriously, the lack of communication on this point is terrible), tell me that the money I spent on a rich chest is worth it from the quality of other common items dropping from it. I was a fool for spending surplus gems on them, but I never will be again. A solution might be to move the tickets to a BL Chest drop, because at least then there’s some goodies that make the money spent worth it.

Thank you for the beautiful content. Dragonball is a fun idea, LA looks amazing and the dragon song is catchy as hell (and surprisingly under used at the moment) <3 but I respectfully posit that the current ticket system, or at least the bits of it that involves the gem store, sucks.

SO FRUSTRATED. I tried this for an HOUR and wasted an armor repair canister + edibles on my 59 thief. I get swarmed way too badly to do much damage to the vets, who can usually kill me in one hit. The npcs are all kinds of useless. Respawning all the way back at the boat is a killer run (all enemy hp regenned by the time I’m back, as if this whole thing weren’t demoralizing enough) with a trickle of allies that seem to do nothing but die and run away from the mobs that are mowing me down. I’ve never yelled in frustration at the game itself (just my poor jumping puzzle skills) but today I did. Never wanted to kill things more. Please fix this. I really don’t remember it being this hard on my ele.

“Btw i think you weren’t able to log in on another computer because of the game key. I think you can only log in with the account that is linked to the game key that was used.”

What. That is very incorrect. Boyfriend and I play on eachother’s computers all the time. Any purchased keys are linked to your account, not a computer.

Well, considering I have refused to install Java or Flash on my PC because I use it exclusively for games and didn’t want their security flaws in my system… I’d be surprised if the solution lies in one of those.

In any case, I have the same problem. My computer is above and beyond minimum requirements, even updated my graphics driver thinking it might be on my end, but no. I log in, play fine, then after normal gameplay The Lag/FPS Drop starts. Sometimes I’ll rubberband, my skills will pulse without going off, people’s locations on the minimap go nuts, but I can still chat normally minus a few seconds delay. It is really starting to annoy me and makes the game pretty unplayable. The game will speed up and visually “catch me back up” after a few seconds but by then I’m usually dead or my team is farther along than I am.

If I queue up enough commands the server kicks me. I’ll try to get the error code next time, but I’ve searched it on google and had no luck.

I’ve only had this problem since the update. It’s not my router or internet; my boyfriend and I play together on the same network and he experiences nothing near what I do. His system is not as new, in terms of graphics, processor and memory, so I’m doubly annoyed.